FIFA 2018: Uruguay-France & Brazil-Belgium clash as Quarter Finals begin tonight

After two days of well-deserved rest, the FIFA World Cup 2018 resumes today (July 6) with the beginning of the Quarter Finals. The first tie will see France take on Uruguay at 7.30 pm IST, followed by the Brazil-Belgium match at 11.30 pm IST. 

France’s Kylian Mbappe was the talk of the town after he ran circles around Argentina’s defense in their previous match. He was the 4th most mentioned player on Twitter in India. His second goal against Messi’s Argentina was the most talked about event on Twitter. France will be looking to top their earlier performance against a weakened Uruguay. With Uruguay’s defense organised around two pillars – Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez – France will have to rely on the quick pace of its younger players to skirt past these veterans. We will likely see old hands like Griezmann and Kante launch strategic plays from the midfield. 

On the other hand, Uruguay has cause for concern as striker Edinson Cavani, who was responsible for their two goals against Portugal, has not been included in the opening line-up. Cavani, who is struggling with an injury, has been forced to sit it out while his team faces their toughest opponent yet. Apart from Luis Suarez, it is Cavani who has scored the most goals for Uruguay in this WC. Against an attacking France, Uruguay is left without any ammunition. Despite the cloud of despondency that hangs over Uruguay fans, Suarez has said, “Things don’t depend on just one player” in his team. Whether those words hold water will be seen in the upcoming match. 

If we ignore Neymar’s antics on the field, we can all agree that Brazil looks like it is in great shape this year. Till now, we haven’t really seen them sweat in any of their matches in the WC. Beating three out of their four opponents in the WC with a comfortable two-goal lead, we can reasonably assume that they have yet to be challenged. Things will be very different when they face Belgium. If one recalls their Quarter Final match in the last World Cup in 2014, Brazil fell apart in their match against Germany. Today’s match will show how much they have grown when Belgium turns on the pressure. 

Belgium came back from the brink of defeat against Japan and gave football fans one of the best matches in this WC. Displaying an incredible offensive strength, Belgium has what it takes to break through Brazil’s defense, especially after Brazilian fullback, Danilo, has been ruled out for the remainder of this WC after sustaining an ankle injury. While it was Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard that impressed us in their earlier games in the tournament, several other players came forward and scored against Japan. This has shown that the Belgians need not rely only on their star players to execute attacks. 

Watch all the explosive action Live on SonyLIV, the official mobile and internet broadcaster for the FIFA World Cup 2018. It is the go-to destination for all football fanatics. 

Check out the Match Centre on SonyLIV, where viewers can see live scores, player positions, team data, match statistics and live commentary. For a more engaging experience, users can set reminders or view the entire schedule, while the points table gives a quick update on the standings, scores, etc. Additionally, SonyLIV has also created a fan-zone on the second screen that users can access on their mobile phones or tablets and experience features like match predictions, emotion meter, polls, and contests, even as they watch the game in real-time. 

Other features include viewing missed games with snippets and clips of key moments from every match along with highlights. To cater to the widest possible range of viewers, SonyLIV will be available in six simultaneous audio feeds - Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and English.